A systeme of anatomy, treating of the body of man, beasts, birds, fish, insects, and plants illustrated with many schemes, consisting of variety of elegant figures, drawn from the life, and engraven in seventy four folio copper-plates. And after every part of man's body hath been anatomically described, its diseases, cases, and cures are concisely exhibited. The first volume containing the parts of the lowest apartiments of the body of man and other animals, etc. / by Samuel Collins ...

CHAP. VI. Of the Seminal Liquor of Man.

THe elegant frame of Mans Body is beautified with divers Apartiments, consisting of variety of parts, disposed in excellent order, situation, * 1.1 fine Figure, and due Magnitude and Proportion, answering each other in rare Symmetry, of which some are solid, and others fluid; the second are the Crown and Perfection of the other, as they give them Being and Life.

The select fluid parts of the Body are chiefly four, Chile, Vital, Nervous, * 1.2 and Seminal Liquor: Chyle is the Materia substrata of Blood, Blood of Ner∣vous juice, and both are the matter of Genital Liquor, as the result and com∣plement of them in order to the excellent design of Generation.

The Seed of Man is a white frothy Liquor, * 1.3 made up of spirituous and ela∣stick Particles enobled with a fructifying Spirit, generated of vital and nervous juice in the Testicles, Parastats, and Seminal Vesicles, instituted by Nature for the univocal production of Animals; whereupon the opinion of the Philo∣sopher is not worthy a reception, who held the genital matter to be an ex∣crement of the third Concoction, whereas in truth it is the most noble Li∣quor relating to the Body as it is made of blood and Animal juice, * 1.4 productive of living Creatures, preserving the Universe in its various kinds, of which it is constituted.

The opinion of the Antients was, That Seed was Propagated from the Brain, and in truth from all parts of the Body, as I humbly conceive, * 1.5 which is honoured by the Suffrage of great Hypocrates in his Book, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. At vero Viri genitura ex uni∣verso humido, quod in Corpore continetur, proficiscitur, ubi id, quod validissimum est excernitur, cujus rei istud est Argumentum, quod ubi rem Veneream exercemus, tantillo emisso, imbecilles evadimus.

This great Author backeth the assertion of Seed to be derived from all parts of the Body, by reason a universal weakness is the consequent of an o∣ver-free excretion of Seminal Liquor, flowing from repeated Acts of Co∣ition

Another Argument to prove this Hypothesis may be taken from the nature of Seminal Liquor, vertually containing the formation of all parts of the Body, which I apprehend may be deduced from the noble Liquors of Vital and Ner∣vous Juice, out of which the Seed is generated. Quoniam ex iisdem principiis generamur, e quibus nutrimur; By reason we are Generated of the same Prin∣ciples, of which we are Nourished, of Blood and Nervous Liquor. Where∣upon these select fluid Particles have recourse, by Arteries and Nerves, into all parts of the Body, as carried into the Interstices, of their Vessels; so that these Nutricious Liquors, in their Passage, do insinuate themselves into their numerous Cavities, * 1.6 and are assimilated into the substance of all the more or less solid parts, and the Nutricious Liquors conversing with them, and not turned into their nature, do borrow a likeness of disposition, and being re∣ceived into the extremities of the Veins, are returned by a retrograde motion to the Heart, and from thence carried, by the descendent Trunk of the Aorta,

through the Spermatick Arteries, into the Testicular Glands, wherein the soft parts of the Blood being separated from it, and associated with a choice Li∣quor, destilling out of the extremities of the Nerves, receive the first rudi∣ment of Seed, which is entertained into the extremity of Seminal Vessels of the Testicles, transmitting it into the Parastats, where it receiveth a farther elaboration, and greater Maturity.

The Seminal matter is a very considerable Portion (endowed with the I∣dea's of various parts) relating to the whole Body of Man; * 1.7 and it receiveth these Ideal Impressions, made upon the Blood and nervous Juice, in their per∣ambulation through all apartiments of the Body, wherein the Liquors are af∣fected with the nature of the parts to which they have recourse in order to Nutrition, and afterwards the relicks of those nutricious humours, not requi∣site for the sustenance of every part, are entertained into the Veins, and mix with the Blood, and are transmitted to the heart, and afterwards conveyed by the preparing Arteries into the Testicles, wherein they are framed into Seed.

These Ideal Configurations, * 1.8 made upon the soft nutricious parts, hold some Analogy with the visible resemblances of things, and are similitudes imprint∣ed upon the Seed, whose Spirituous Particles are modelled by the parts of the Body from whence they are derived,; and as from all visible objects are diffused an infinite number of Rays, Coated with the colour and figure of those Bodies from which they emane, so in like manner a great company of most subtle Atoms arise out of every Particle of the Body, and Imprint their Dispositions and Configurations on the nutricious Liquors, the Materia Sub∣strata of Genital Matter, which I will more fully Treat of in a Discourse of Generation.

The Materia Substrata of Genital Matter is composed of two parts; * 1.9 the one is the more mild substance of the Blood of its serous and Chymous Par∣ticles, not assimilated into Vital Liquor, separated from it in the Glands of the Testicles: These soft Atoms of the Blood are endued with Vital Spirits, and volatil Particles, exalting the Seed.

The other more delicate parts, less in quantity, and more in Vertue, are derived from the Nervous Juice, confaederated with the gentle parts of the Blood in the substance of the Testicles, acted with volatil, saline, and fine spirituous elastick Atoms, opening the Compage of the Serous and Chymous parts of the Blood, preparing it for Seminal Liquor, consisting of differing Liquors, made up of fermentative Principles, broken into small Particles in the Body of the Testicular Glands.

So that it may be inferred upon good reason, * 1.10 That the Seminal Juice is in∣tegrated of two parts, the one subtil and spirituous, as consisting of the more thin and active Atoms of the fine Particles of the Blood, and nervous Juice, impregnated with Animal Elastick Spirits, enobling the Seed, as made up of active fermentative Elements, chiefly conducive to the Generation of Animals, which are stiled Germinis Nomine, consisting in the more refined active parts of the Seed.

The other parts of the Semen are more gross, frothy, watry, and Earthy, which constitute the greatest and most bulky Portion of it, and as being less active, do enclose the spirituous and volatil Atoms within its more thick and gross Confines, not permitting them to evaporate.

These different Elements of Seed, * 1.11 being incorporated, do make a Mass, containing a double, an efficient, and material Principle; the first delineateth Prima Stamina, the very Rudiments of the Foetus, in which the Architeconick

power resideth; The second is the Alimentary Portion of the Seminal Mat∣ter, giving Support and encrease to the formed Parts.

These two Seminal Principles being confoederated, * 1.12 are rendred inefficaci∣ous, by reason the Material is so gross that it so depresseth the more Spiritu∣ous Particles, that they cannot exalt themselves into Act in a well dispo∣sed Uterus, whereupon if the material Principle be too much debased by fixed and Saline Earthy Elements, the Uterine Heat and Ferment, cannot exert themselves, and exalt the Spirituous and Volatil, and colliquate the gross genital Matter in order to Generation of the Foetus. * 1.13

Great Aristotle attributeth a Coelestial temper to the spirituous part of the Seed, holding some Analogy with the nature of the Stars, in reference to its great Excellency, Lib. 2. de Generat. Animal. Cap. 3, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉? Inest enim in Semine omnium, quod facit, ut foecunda sint Semina, vide∣licet, quod Calor vocatur; id{que} non ignis, non talis Facultas aliqua est, sed Spiri∣tus, qui in Semine, spumoso{que} Corpore, continetur, & Natura, quae in eo Spiritu est proportione respondens Elemento Stellarum.

The Spirituous parts of the Seminal Liquor are produced out of its thin and delicate substance, assisted by the natural and ambient heat, relaxing the Compage of the grosser parts; and are nothing else but a most subtle fluid Matter, rendred volatil by heat, whereupon it would quit its station, and embody with Air, as near a-kin to it, was it not confined within the Walls of more fixed matter.

In the Seed of all Animals and Plants, is seated an inbred Spirit, endued with an efficient Plastick Faculty, consisting in the most subtl, volatile, saline, * 1.14 and sulphureous Particles, exalted by the natural heat of the Womb in Ani∣mals, and ambient Air in Vegetables, whereupon these thin restless Parts of the Seed would soon evaporate, were they not detained within the enclosure of more gross Matter; So that the Spirituous and Gross parts of the Seed do act the parts of Friends, in doing kind Offices to each other: The Spiri∣tuous parts do exalte the more Fixed, and the more Gross do conserve within their Embraces the more Fine and Volatil.

The most excellent Liquor (constituting the Spirutuous parts of the Seed) is transmitted through the terminations of the Nerves, * 1.15 inserted into the Glands of the Testicles, wherein it associateth with the Serous and Chymous parts of the Blood, full of many Saline, and some few Sulphureous parts, which the Nervous Liquor doth render thin and volatile, by exalting its more gross parts, as Colliquated by heat of the Testicles, which are thence trans∣mitted into the Parastats, to receive a farther Concoction, and so to pass through the deferent Vessels into the Seminal Vesicles and Prostats, as recepta∣cles of Seed, where it is reserved till the time of Coition.

The prime Elements of Seed are Saline, * 1.16 which are endued with a Balsamick quality, and render it fruitful, and much exceed those of Sulphur, and upon this account the Poets have feigned Venus to take her Birth from the Sea, and give Lascivious Animals the appellative of Salacious; and I humbly conceive that the several parts of the Body, being more or less solid, do owe their for∣mation to greater or less Concretions, made by different Seminal Salt, mixed with some Earthy and Sulphureous Particles, which being associated with a larger proportion of Saline, do impart a greater or less consistence to the various parts of the Body; of which I will give a fuller account hereafter in the Treatise of Generation.

Notes

• * 1.1

  The parts of the Body are solid & fluid.
• * 1.2

  The fluid Parts of the Body.
• * 1.3

  The descripti∣on of the Seed
• * 1.4

  The Liquors, of which the Seed is made.
• * 1.5

  The Seed is derived from all parts of the Body.
• * 1.6

  The manner how the nutri∣cious Liquors are Painted, with the Fi∣gures of all parts of the Body.
• * 1.7

  The Seminal Liquor bor∣roweth the likeness of all parts of the Body.
• * 1.8

  The resem∣blances of parts imprint∣ed upon the Seed do some∣what repre∣sent the visible images of things.
• * 1.9

  The Materia-Substrata of Seed.
• * 1.10

  The Seed is composed of Spirituous Watry, and Earthy parts.
• * 1.11

  The formative Principle re∣sideth in the Seed.
• * 1.12

  The gross parts of the Seed do de∣press it.
• * 1.13

  Aristotle as∣signeth a Coe∣lestial dispo∣sition to the Seed.
• * 1.14

  The Volatil, Saline, & Sul∣phureous parts of the Seed are exalted by the heat of the Womb.
• * 1.15

  The Nervous Liquor associ∣ates with the serous parts of the Blood,
• * 1.16

  The chief parts of the Seed are Sa∣line, in which the calstick Vertue doth very much consist.